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Economy on a healthy road as August comes to a close; good news for restaurants

Aug. 31, 2015

The end of August brings a bit of economic confidence for the food-service industry as U.S. consumer spending was up in July, according to the latest Commerce Department report.

The increase of 0.3 percent was likely due to an increase in wages and salaries, according to an APreport published at ABCnews.com.

Consumers shopped for expensive items late in the month, such as automobiles, and the wage and salary category increased 0.5 percent, while incomes jumped 0.4 percent. In a robust economy, consumers also tend to eat out more often and travel, leading to more dining experiences.

It’s a positive trend for the third quarter, noted economists and industry watchers.

"All of the data are heading in the right direction," Jennifer Lee, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets stated in a note to clients, according to AP. "Except for inflation."

Overall. the economy grew at what AP describes as a healthy 3.7 percent, and economic experts predicted such a healthy trend would continue through September.

"The consumer is pretty much chugging along," Tom Simons, an economist at Jefferies LLC in New York, told Bloomberg. "It’s clearly encouraging to see the wage gain. We definitely need more of that to see a sustained acceleration in consumption."